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Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere. Those who are skilled (in the Dao) do not dispute (about it); the disputatious are not skilled in it. Those who know (the Dao) are not extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it.The sage does not accumulate (for himself). The more that…
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In a little state with a small population, I would so order it, that, though there were individuals with the abilities of ten or a hundred men, there should be no employment of them; I would make the people, while looking on death as a grievous thing, yet not remove elsewhere (to avoid it).Though…
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Laozi uses water as a metaphor for the Dao for their shared characteristics. Water has no fixed shape, conforming to its container. This mirrors the Dao’s formless nature.
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This chapter uses the metaphor of ”drawing a bow” to reveal the dynamic equilibrium of natural law, critique humanity’s exploitative logic of ”reducing deficiency to replenish excess,” and propose the sage’s wisdom and principle.
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Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.Thus it is that firmness and strength are the concomitants of death; softness and weakness, the concomitants of…
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The preferences of Heaven are beyond human understanding. Even sages struggle to discern them, let alone ordinary people! The Dao operates through inscrutable natural laws, transcending human logic. Sages approach such mysteries with humility rather than forced interpretation.